Ya’ll quit

I was going to write a scathing rant on the inability of some people to have a rational discussion of opposing viewpoints without resorting to name calling and generally boorish behavior. I was going to rant and rave about our unwillingness to have civil conversation and to remind folks what Grandma told most of us years ago, “If you can’t say something nice about somebody, don’t say anything at all. ” I’m not going to because this column is supposed to be about the everyday stuff we see and hear.

But we see this kind of incivility on a daily basis. Is it possible that there is somebody in these United States that can have an adult conversation without threats, insults, and / or a frequent use of “THAT” word? Why are we seemingly unable to agree to disagree? Is this maybe the result of a society that has been over exposed to the self esteem movement? Maybe we have been told we are special too many times and have internally decided that we are right and everybody who does not agree is unworthy of oxygen and should not be allowed to vote. This column is not the place for this discussion. I will leave it to wiser people than I.

Instead, I will tell you what Augie told me the other day when this topic came up. (You will remember Augie from a previous article – he is my life long buddy from Army days and is a hog farmer today). He reminded me of the aforementioned wisdom from Grandma then told me about his Daddy. His Daddy was also a hog farmer but he was better at it than Augie. His Daddy once told him and I quote, “Don’t you ever talk bad about anybody to their face or behind their back. The Bible teaches against it.” Augie’s dad wasn’t educated but he was a pretty smart fellow. I don’t recall him ever saying anything bad about anybody. Augie hasn’t either so far as I know. He told me once if he ever did talk bad about somebody his Daddy would come up out of the grave and get him.

We’d all do pretty well to listen Augie’s dad. I would not want to see Augie’s Daddy come up out of the grave either.